


The Problem With Chinese Dumplings

by megastarstrike



Series: Super Momota Bros [2]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Coming Out, Family Feels, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, background kaimaki, kaito and kokichi are siblings, so are maki and shuuichi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-27 16:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15028154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megastarstrike/pseuds/megastarstrike
Summary: Kaito's life came in a series of surprises. That was a side effect of living with Kokichi, and he had grown to be used to it. In fact, he appreciated having someone to always keep him on his toes and keep his life fun (not that he would ever admit it to him, of course). It had come to the point where he found he could rarely be surprised from anything, barring ghosts and the occasional unexpected prank.Then in true Kokichi fashion, Kokichi justhadto throw another curveball at him in the form of something vaguely related to Chinese dumplings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello i am back by unpopular demand. special thanks to pastelbandana for tolerating my screaming

Whoever said siblings are friends you’re born with was a dirty liar, much like Kaito’s younger brother.

“Kokichi motherfucking Ouma, get your lazy ass out of bed before I go up there myself!” Kaito yelled up the staircase, his fist raised and clenched. His eye twitched upon hearing a low groan in return.

The time was around 7 AM, but school started at 7:30. They needed to leave now if they didn’t want to be late to their classes, Kaito especially with his strict history teacher. He already had enough tardies from sleeping in too late; he didn’t need a detention.

His shitstain of a younger brother, on the other hand, got lucky with a language arts teacher that loved him for some reason _(“It’s because I’m interesting, unlike your stupid ass,”_ Kokichi had told him, but Kaito highly doubted it. It was probably because it was his best subject). But Kokichi usually woke up earlier than him…

“‘Kichi!” Kaito called again.

This time, the door squeaked open and was followed with heavy footsteps until two tired purple eyes stared back at him.

“What do you want, Kai-chan?” Kokichi asked, yawning. He fixed a grin on his face. “Oh, wait, don’t tell me. You were planning on playing a prank on me, weren’t you?”

“That’s your job, not mine,” Kaito grunted.

He wasn’t lying either (that was Kokichi’s job, too). Kaito had been pranked so many times it was second nature to check the doorway for any tripwire or ropes whenever he walked into his own house. He had tried to prank him back at one point, but one, two, twenty times of Kokichi somehow dodging his pranks were enough to convince him it would never work.

“Anyway, get ready quick. We need to get to school.”

Of all reactions, Kaito didn’t expect Kokichi to groan and cover his hands with his face, completely throwing away his energetic facade.

“Kaito Momota. Kai-chan. Big brother. My beloved twin,” Kokichi said slowly, his voice taking on a patient tone reserved for elementary school teachers and one that chilled Kaito to the bones.

Kaito gulped. “W-What?”

“Do you know what day it is today?”

“Yeah, it’s, uh…” Kaito pulled out his phone. His world collapsed at the day displayed on the calendar. “... Saturday.”

Kokichi met his stare evenly for a few seconds before bursting into hysterical laughter, dropping to the floor and holding his stomach. “Nishishi! Kai-chan sure is an idiot, isn’t he?”

“Fuck you, you know you’d make the same mistake.”

“I’ve gotta tell the group chat about this,” Kokichi said through his laughter, running back to his room to get his phone.

“Oh no, you fucking don’t!” Kaito rushed up the stairs after him.

He was fully aware of who was in that group chat: Rantarou, Miu, and Angie. While he knew Rantarou could keep a secret, the news would spread throughout the school within an hour with the help of Angie, and Miu would hold it over him forever.

Kaito tackled Kokichi to the ground just as he reached the phone and jabbed his fingers into his sides, smirking at the raucous laughter as his fingers tapped against him. The phone was dropped, and Kaito kicked it away. “Who’s texting what to the group chat now?”

“S-Still me, nishishi!” That was all Kokichi managed to get out before grabbing Kaito’s phone out of his jacket pocket and plunging his foot into his stomach.

Kaito caught himself before he hit the door and stood up with shaky legs. “You’ll never figure out the password. It’s the most complicated one I’ve made so far.”

“I figured out the password.”

“What the fuck?” Kaito snatched the phone out of Kokichi’s hands just before he could open his contacts. “Great, now I gotta change my password again. How do you keep figuring it out?”

Kokichi sat up. “I keep a surveillance camera in your room and watch you type in your password.”

“Alright, whatever.”

“How can you just dismiss me like that? Am I not your brother?” Kokichi wailed as he burst into tears. “Mom! Kai-chan doesn’t love me!”

“Shh! Shut the fuck up!” Kaito whispered, bringing a hand over Kokichi’s mouth. “It’s too early in the morning for this shit.” He retracted his hand upon feeling something wet against his palm and wiped it against his pants, making a note to scrub his hands with bleach later.

“Guess whose fault that is,” Kokichi said.

The two stared each other down before Kaito sighed. “Fine, I’ll make breakfast.”

Kokichi cheered and hopped onto his back, wringing his arms around his neck. “Lead the way, my beloved dumbass!”

“Shut up!” Despite his words, Kaito secured Kokichi’s legs with his arms and made his way downstairs.

And if someone asked later, Kaito would deny smiling when Kokichi rested his head on his shoulder and familiar snores escaped him soon after.

 

* * *

 

Science wasn’t either of their first classes, but it was a class the two shared together. Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally, depending on who was asked), it also happened to be their least favorite class. Kaito had chosen a seat in the back of the classroom nearest to the door to be the first one out, but he regretted that decision since the semester began.

“Good morning, Kai-chan!” Kokichi sang as he walked through the door and smacked the back of his head. He ran away to his seat next to Rantarou before Kaito could retaliate.

Kaito opened his mouth to yell, but a hand clapped over his mouth before he could.

“Shut the fuck up, Purple Bitch number two, we don’t need to hear your screaming this early in the morning,” Miu said. She snatched her hand away with a yelp. “You just licked my hand, you little shit! What kind of weird ass kink?”

“I don’t need you being this loud in the morning either, Miu,” Kaito grumbled, “And why is ‘Kichi Purple Bitch number one? _I’m_ the hero here.”

“Because, you know, he’s actually my friend.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh, shut up. At least we’re getting new lab partners today, so I don’t have to be stuck with your dumb ass anymore.”

“Hey! I’m not dumb!”

Miu rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, space fuckboy. Who do you wanna be paired up with for this lab? I heard this one’s the hardest one of the year.” She paused to snicker. “Ha, hard.”

Kaito scanned the room, pointedly ignoring Miu. They had been lab partners for every project in this class due to sheer luck (or lack thereof). While they didn’t hate each other, it was safe to say they weren’t the best of friends.

Kaede sat across the room at another table, humming as she sorted through the sheet music from her previous class. Her strong point was obviously not in science, much less their physics class. As good of friends as they were, it wouldn’t be a smart move to choose her as his partner for the hardest lab of the year.

Maki sat next to her with her arms crossed. While she was a slightly better option, he didn’t want to gamble their relationship by getting a failing grade on something as important as a lab. So, he moved onto whoever she was glaring at.

Kokichi was out of the question.

Shuuichi was probably the best option out of the four (more like three) options Kaito had, seeing as how he spent a lot of his time studying and was one of the smarter people in the class. Besides, they were best friends. Their friendship had stood the test of time, and he was confident they could work through a project together.

Kaito leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up. “I know who I wanna work with.”

“Guess what? You don’t get to choose, dickface,” Miu said, “I wish we could, though. I see who purple bitch number one is eyeing, and hell if he gets to Kiibo before I do.”

“Do either of you know how Kiibo feels about this? What if he doesn’t want to be with either of you?”

“Who wouldn’t want to be lab partners with this brilliant girl genius?”

Before Kaito could answer with himself, the bell cut him off, signaling the beginning of class.

The teacher offered them a sheepish smile from her desk. “So you may or may not have heard about our next lab coming up. I’ll be assigning new partners for that, so look up at the board when I project your partners.”

A few seconds later, a table of every pair was projected onto the screen. The class fell silent as they searched for their names.

“No! Fuck! I’m stuck with you again!” Miu screeched, clawing at her head.

Kaito looked up, only to see his and Miu’s name paired together. “God damn it! Why am I always paired with you?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be paired with your stupid ass!”

Kaito sighed and shut his eyes as everyone else moved to sit with their new partners. Neither he nor Miu had had to move for the past three months, and it seemed like they wouldn’t have to move for the rest of the year.

 

* * *

 

Kaito explained his troubles to his friends at lunch, only to be met with a series of laughs.

He groaned. “Come on, guys, don’t you feel my pain? I don’t wanna be stuck with Miu _again_.”

Kaede only shrugged. “I lucked out with Maki as my partner, and my previous partners weren’t too bad. Miu’s not that bad either. Doesn’t she have one of the top grades in the class?”

“And you and Miu have a history of turning in good lab reports, do you not?” Maki asked. “It should be an easy A. You two are already used to each other, so you can bear her for one more lab.”

“At this rate, I’ll have to tolerate her for the rest of the year,” Kaito grumbled. He eyed Shuuichi, who stabbed at his salad with his fork without seeming to grab a single leaf. “Hey, Shuuichi, you’ve been pretty quiet. Who’s your partner?”

Shuuichi snapped out of his trance, dropping his fork in the process. He sheepishly picked it back up. “Um… are you sure you want to know?”

“Well, I asked, didn’t I?”

“It’s Kokichi.”

The table held a moment of silence for their fallen friend.

Kaito shook his head. “And I thought _I_ had a bad partner. Tell me if he tries to stick all the work onto you, I’ll talk to him.”

“No, no, he actually did a lot of the work in class today,” Shuuichi said, “Although he said a lot of… _questionable_ things.”

“Oh no. He didn’t try to lie to you, did he?”

“I mean…”

“That’s it,” Maki said, standing up and grabbing a fork off her tray. “I’m gonna go talk to him.”

Shuuichi scrambled to calm his sister. “W-Wait, don’t! It wasn’t like they were bad lies or anything. Just a bit confusing.” A smile and blush rose to his face. “And… And I have to admit I was already interested in him before this project. This partnership is good.”

“Hey, Shuuichi.”

“Yeah?"

“What the actual fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“U-Um…”

“Well, he’ll be happy you think he’s interesting,” Kaito said. The incredulous stares thrown his way flew over his head. “He’s always going on about how he doesn’t want to be boring.”

Silence.

“Anyway,” Kaede said, “Did anyone get the notes from history yesterday? ”

Shuuichi nodded and pulled out his notes while Maki scolded her for not paying attention yet again.

And for a moment, everything was normal.

 

* * *

 

“I’m home!” Kokichi sang as he walked through the back door of their house with a grin. He threw his backpack on the kitchen table, narrowly missing the stack of math worksheets Kaito had just finished organizing. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

Kaito let out a sigh of relief upon seeing his stack of paper wasn’t hit. “Dad’s at work, and Mom’s out for errands. And can you not just throw your backpack on the table like that? It could’ve hit my papers.”

“No can do, Kai-chan, my duty in life is to make life as inconvenient as possible for you.”

“Duty completed.”

Kokichi dropped his backpack to the floor and plopped down on a chair. He took out his history textbook and a highlighter. “Miu was complaining about being stuck with you for the lab again. I don’t like listening to her whiny bitchassness, but I would whine too if I was stuck with you. Also, is that tea? Are you pretending to be classy or something?”

Kaito sighed and slapped his pencil flat on the table. “Whatever. I heard my sidekick’s your partner for the physics lab.”

“Sidekick? You mean Shumai?”

“Yeah—” Kaito cut himself off when he processed the nickname. “Wait, who the fuck is Shumai?”

“Shuuichi.”

“How’d you come up with that name?”

“You know how you call your girlfriend Maki Roll? Shumai is a type of dumpling, so I just did the only logical thing and made a nickname for him.” Kokichi raised a finger. “Come on, learn to think for once.”

Kaito furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. “Whatever. How was drama club?”

“Drama club? We don’t even have a drama club at this school.”

“You’re the president of it.”

“Nishishi! Caught me again!” Kokichi flipped a pen and leaned back in his chair as he rambled about what had happened that meeting, though Kaito wasn’t sure how much of it was truth. Every inch of his face moved with the story, and his hands would have moved too if he wasn’t playing with his pen.

Kaito nodded along and butted in with the occasional comment as he mindlessly solved the rest of his worksheets.

His tea went cold by the time either of them moved from the table.

 

* * *

 

With their time spent together laboring over labs, it was impossible for them to not have developed a routine. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Kaito would visit Miu’s house and navigate through the sheer amount of junk in her garage to assemble the parts for their project. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Miu would kick down the door to Kaito’s house (and usually end up being Kokichi’s prank target of the week) to plan out their lab process. It was second nature at this point.

So when both Miu and Shuuichi stood at the door to his house, both with glittering clothes from a bucket trick, Kaito had to take a moment to blink.

Miu was the first to speak. “What the hell, dickface? Get your brother over here so I can tell him off for being a little shit.”

That seemed to propel Shuuichi into action, as he scrambled to wipe the glitter off his clothes, but to no avail. “S-Sorry for intruding, but Kokichi and I were supposed to work on our project here today. Should we move somewhere else?”

Before Kaito could answer, Kokichi came flying down the stairs. He frowned when he saw the results of his prank. “Oh, come on, Miu! You got my lab partner all dirty with your stupid carelessness. Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

Miu responded without hesitation. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re the one who set up the prank in the first place, fuckwad!”

“You’ve been coming here for the entire year now, you should know to watch out for my pranks. Even dumb Kai-chan over here knows that.”

“Hey!” Kaito called, bristling at the insult. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shuuichi’s eyes darting back and forth between the two and his mouth open and close as if he wanted to say something. “Can you two cut it out? You’re making my sidekick uncomfortable.”

The two stopped and stared back at Shuuichi, whose eyes widened at the sudden attention. “I’m fine. I can—I can just leave if you’re busy.”

Kokichi lunged forward and tugged the cuff of Shuuichi’s shirt. “No, stay! We need to get a better grade than those two dummies over here!”

“Bitch, is that a fucking challenge?” Miu asked. “Challenge accepted, purple fucker. Me and the other purple fucker can definitely get a better grade than you two virgins.”

“Fine!”

“Fine! Go fuck yourself!” She grabbed Kaito’s arm and stormed away into the garage, their usual workplace. In the distance, they could vaguely hear Kokichi giggling and promising them an interesting battle while Shuuichi sighed.

Kaito looked around the room, taking note of the toolbox gathering dust in the corner and the planks of wood from Kokichi’s woodworking phase a few years earlier. Those weren’t the right tools in the slightest for this lab, but it was nice to note they were there. “You… didn’t plan this out, did you?”

Miu scanned the room as well before shrinking and giving her answer.

“Nope.”

 

* * *

 

“How’s your project going, Kaito?”

The question made Kaito freeze and drop his spoon on the cafeteria table. His voice rose an octave. “Great, Kaede. Absolutely fine. Nothing can get the luminary of the stars down.”

Kaede furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head.

Having a liar as a brother helped sharpen Kaito’s lying abilities, but that didn’t mean it was perfect. In fact, he would say he was one of the worst liars in his friend group.

“Okay…” Kaede said, her tone wary and doubtful. It was clear she didn’t believe him in the slightest, but she moved on. “How’s your project going, Shuuichi?”

Shuuichi set his fork down and looked up with a smile. “Oh, it’s actually going pretty well. Kokichi and I finished planning out how we’re going to build everything, and we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to structure the lab.”

“What the hell? How are you and that fucker doing well?” Kaito said.

Kaede furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. “Are you sure you should be talking about your brother that way?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve called him by his actual name, like, three times in my entire life, and he’s probably called me by the same.”

“He’s actually pretty smart,” Shuuichi mumbled. “When he’s not lying, I mean.”

Kaito scoffed and tilted his chair back. “Yeah, that gets frustrating. I’ve lived with him for seventeen years, and I still can’t deal with it.”

“At least you know who he is. Kokichi’s a complete mystery to me.”

“So? You’re a detective, you can figure this out.” He patted him on the shoulder, not catching the way Shuuichi’s eyes lit up at the new revelation. “‘Kichi’s a hard nut to crack, but I’m sure you can do it. You’ve just gotta believe in yourself!”

“I agree,” Kaede chimed, “We have faith in you, so you should definitely have faith in yourself!”

Shuuichi stayed silent for a moment before offering them a smile. “Thanks, you two. It’s, uh… Actually, have either of you seen Maki?”

It was a clumsy way to change the subject, but it worked nonetheless. Their conversation never touched the project again.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t unusual for Kaito to be the one to wake up first on weekends. His normal routine would be to wake up, use the bathroom before his brother could hog everything, then wake him up to eat breakfast together.

But when Kaito walked in and saw Kokichi asleep with his head in the crook of Shuuichi’s neck while Shuuichi leaned against the wall, that routine was broken from the beginning.

Judging by the screws and tools scattered around the room, they had most likely stayed up trying to finish building the machine for their physics lab. The directions sheet for the lab was set in front of them. A sad, half-built wooden post was the fruit of their labor, and Kaito got the feeling they were distracted while working.

While he could have gotten his revenge for years of pranks by blowing an air horn right next to their ears, Kaito decided he didn’t feel like dying just yet and opted to toss a blanket over them before exiting the room. He took out his phone and texted the first person he could think of.

 **KM:** maki roll maki roll i just found kichi and shuuichi cuddling  
**MH:** One, don’t call me that. Two, of course they are. What else did you expect?  
**KM:** um not that  
**MH:** …..  
**MH:** Okay. I suppose I can accept that.  
Kaito Momota sent a picture.  
**KM:** dont they look so cute though?? thats the kind of friendship i aspire to have  
**MH:** I  
**MH:** It is way too early for this.  
**KM:** what do u mean its too early for this?

Kaito never received an answer.

 

* * *

 

 

Shumai Night was always reserved for Kaito to cook, as he was the only one between him and his brother who could make shumai. It was initially a chore he dreaded every month, but it became less of a chore over time; it was a way for him to gather his thoughts at the end of a day when he actually had the luxury to stop and think. At least, it would have been relaxing if Kokichi wasn’t peering over the corner like a horrible spy.

Kaito sighed as he laid a carrot on the chopping board. “What do you want, ‘Kichi? Trying to set up another prank?”

To his surprise, Kokichi stepped out from the corner and into the kitchen, unobscured. His face was blank, and he held a scarf in his hands.

“... Kokichi?”

“I have something to tell you,” Kokichi said. His voice wavered the slightest bit. “You might hate me for this, but I have to get this off my chest.”

That was uncharacteristically serious. It was either Kokichi getting a grip on his sense of humor and being serious for once, or it could have been a setup for a prank that relied on Kaito letting his guard down. But when was the last time Kokichi had pulled one of those pranks?

Still, neither of them were the type to handle serious atmospheres well. Kaito focused his attention back on picking up a knife and mincing the carrot. “Well, spit it out. We haven’t got all day.”

“I’m gay.”

The knife slipped out of Kaito’s hands, and it dropped onto the ground. He picked it back up and set it in the sink before whipping his head around to Kokichi.

“You’re what?”

Kokichi stayed silent before plastering a smile on his face and folding his hands behind his head. “Just kidding! Got you good there, didn’t I? Man, I can’t believe you actually fell for that. You must be stupider than I thought you were.”

Contrary to popular belief (or Kokichi’s belief, rather), Kaito knew his brother like the back of his hand. During the seventeen years of living and interacting with him, he had picked up on some of his mannerisms while lying. Kokichi almost never used that specific string of insults when he wasn’t lying, for one. The arms behind his head were frigid, too forced to be natural. It was almost like he was afraid of something.

It was then he realized he had never bothered to pay much attention to what had been happening in Kokichi’s life over the past few months. He had been too wrapped up in his own problems to even consider his own little brother stewing in his emotions alone. It was as if Kaito had flown free into the space he admired so greatly, but at the cost of abandoning the person he held dearest to him on the prison that was Earth. He couldn’t just leave it like that. He had to land back on the surface and to do that, he had to think.

“Are you—Are you afraid of me?” Kaito asked, his voice almost a whisper.

And when the only answer was silence, it felt as if Kokichi had taken the knife that had fallen just a second ago and stabbed it through his heart.

“Why would you be afraid of me? I’m your _older_ _brother,_ I should be the one you come to for—”

“Who _wouldn’t_ be afraid of you?” Kokichi spat. The blank face was gone and replaced with a red face scrunched in anger. “You’re pretty much a walking homophobe stereotype.”

“What?”

“You’re super into sports, you make jokes about guys who like traditionally feminine things being gay, you use gay as an insult. Take your pick, Kaito, I have tons more.”

Kaito shrunk under his glare. “It was just a joke, dude. I didn’t know it would actually hurt you.”

“Well, it did. And now you’re gonna hate me—”

“I could never hate you.”

“You do now—” He cut himself off upon feeling Kaito bring him into a hug.

“No. I really could never hate you, not even if we were in a war on opposite sides,” Kaito said. His grip squeezed tighter. “You’re my younger brother, my twin. I… I’m so sorry I did something to make you feel as if you couldn’t tell me something about yourself, and I hate that I made an environment where you felt like you couldn’t be yourself. A true hero would never do that. You may be a little shit, but you’re my sibling first. You’re still Kokichi Ouma, and that’s what’s most important.”

“... You’re technically only three minutes older than me.”

Well, there went the mood.

Kaito squinted his eyes and stepped out of the hug. “Oh my god, I finished an entire heartwarming speech, and that’s the best you can give me?”

“You were wrong, and I had to correct you.”

“Doesn’t stop me from being the older sibling, though.”

“You may be the older sibling, but I will always be the supreme sibling.”

“You may think that, but… think fast!” Kaito reached forward and snatched the scarf out of Kokichi’s hands and held it high above his head, laughing as he pouted and jumped up in a failed attempt to retrieve the scarf.

“That’s not fair!” Kokichi whined.

Kaito snorted. “Life’s not fair, shorty. Get taller.”

Then Kokichi stopped and wrapped his arms around Kaito’s middle. The hug was warm and as gentle as a hug between them could ever be. “Still. Thank you.”

Kaito smiled and reciprocated the hug. “Aw, come here, you moron.”

“You’re the moron here, moron.”

“I may be a moron, but you’re stupider than me.”

Kokichi pulled away from the hug with his hands behind his back and an all too familiar smug smirk on his face. “Could a moron steal his scarf back?”

“What? You didn’t—” Kaito looked down at his hands, only to see the scarf was nowhere to be found. He looked up and sighed upon seeing the scarf bunched up in Kokichi’s left hand and hearing the following “nishishi”s. “Oh, fuck you.”

“You’ll always be the idiot here, it’s easier if you just accept it. Now get back to cooking, peasant.”

“Fine, fine.” Kaito washed the knife before picking it up and resuming the mincing of the carrot. “Anyway, who’s the unlucky guy?”

Instead of making a vaguely offended noise like Kaito had expected, Kokichi went silent and shuffled his feet. He tucked his chin to his chest before looking up and shooting a meaningful glance at the ingredients set on the counter.

Kaito glanced back and forth between Kokichi and the ingredients on the counter before everything that had happened in the last few months suddenly clicked. The knife clattered back on the cutting board. He whipped back around towards Kokichi.

“You fucking like _Shuuichi?_ ”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thanks to tackycrows for looking over this chapter

After what had to be the awkwardest conversation in all of Kaito’s seventeen years of life (and buying Kokichi a cupcake with rainbow frosting when he threatened to tell their parents Kaito had “bullied” him), their relationship had turned somewhat normal again. Kaito would yell at Kokichi for yet another prank, and Kokichi would yell at Kaito for taking too long in the bathroom. They were a bit closer than they were before, but their relationship was overall the same as it had been before.

Except when it had anything to do with Shuuichi.

Kaito knocked once on Kokichi’s door before entering. “Hey, ‘Kichi, I need you to… Are you fucking texting Shuuichi again?”

Kokichi sat up from his bed and scrambled to hide his phone under his pillow. He faced him with a blank face that somehow managed to look guilty. “... No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I don’t even have a phone.”

“That lie would’ve totally been believable if you hadn’t added that last part, you know.”

“You’re too stupid to catch any of my lies anyway.”

Before Kaito could grab the nearest object and hurl it at him, the phone buzzed under Kokichi’s pillow, and Kokichi reached underneath to glance at the screen. His lips curled up into a warm, lovesick smile, but he covered it with his arm.

Kaito squinted his eyes. “... Yeah, if you’re done texting your crush, we need to go grocery shopping.”

“Alright.”

“Wait, you’re really agreeing that easily?”

“Sure.”

Somehow, Kaito didn’t expect Kokichi taking his phone with him to the grocery store and continuing to text with the same dopey smile on his face. It was maddening, trying to bond with his brother without his full attention, but he’d be damned if he let their relationship drop to the levels of distrust it had a week ago.

So for now, he would keep his mouth shut.

 

* * *

 

The morning before school was an organized chaos, especially in the lunchroom, where students generally hung around before their classes started. Even the library was a hellhole of noise with all the tutoring and small talk. To get to a quiet place, one would need to stay away from high traffic areas and get to somewhere deeper inside the school.

Kaito knew this. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t like being surrounded by loud noises. No one in his family did. So that was how he found himself navigating through the school on a fuzzy mental map when his usual spot was stolen by his shithead brother and his friends ( _ “Back off, purple bitch, our tits are better than yours,” _ as Miu had so eloquently put it). But whatever. He had a test to study for, he didn’t have time to chase them away.

A few minutes later when he stepped into the foreign language hall, two soft, familiar voices grew louder as he walked closer and closer to the end of the hall.

“... mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad at you for that? That’s stupid. You can’t help who you love.”

Kaito frowned. He would recognize the voices of Shuuichi and Maki anywhere. They seemed to be having the same conversation he and Kokichi had had just a week ago, but he distinctly remembered all of them having a talk about Shuuichi being bi last year. This was old news. Were they talking about something else?

A long silence followed her statement before Shuuichi sniffed. “I just thought… since you hated him so much, you would hate me, too.”

“Shuuichi, that’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said, and you’ve said a lot of dumb—Oh, jeez, don’t cry.” Right after she finished her words, a sob echoed throughout the halls, and she murmured reassurance.

Shit. What was he supposed to do?

Kaito gulped, his fists clenched. If he was the same man he was a week ago, he would have run down the hallway and taken his best friend into his arms to cheer him up in whatever way he could. The cries, while muffled, still sent the same dread and discomfort through his heart as it did in middle school.

But he wasn’t the same man. Because back in that moment in time, when his brother met his eyes, it didn’t matter how many friends Kokichi had; he needed support from his brother and only his brother. Kaito could be the hero in that situation.

Here, Maki was the hero Shuuichi needed. She was the only one who had enough context on both the situation and the person she was meant to be comforting, which meant Kaito wasn’t. It took years of him pushing people away from his insistence on acting as a hero in situations he really shouldn’t have and his brother scolding him for him to learn that even if he could be the hero for someone, he can’t be the hero for everybody.

So Kaito gathered every bit of strength he could to walk away from the first situation he admitted he couldn’t handle.

 

* * *

 

“How’s your  _ special person _ doing, Shuuichi?” Kaede giggled, reaching over Kaito’s desk to playfully nudge Shuuichi’s shoulder with a wink.

Shuuichi hid his reddening face behind his hands, mumbling something unintelligible as he hunched over his desk.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “Special person?”

Kaede blinked, her smile fading. She shot a raised eyebrow at Shuuichi, who shook his head. She directed the blankest stare Kaito had ever seen on her face at him before pulling her phone out and scrolling through whatever app she had tapped on.

“Wow, rude. Am I missing something?”

“Too much, Kaito,” Kaede sighed, “If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be, but… you’re missing too much.”

 

* * *

 

Screams were typical in Kaito’s household, both from guests and from the people formally living in it. Still, Kaito flinched when a loud shriek came through the living room. Living with noise didn’t mean he particularly liked it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

That was probably Miu.

“Nishishi! Get good, scrub.”

And that was  _ definitely _ Kokichi.

Miu mumbled something under her breath, her frustration barely concealed. “If you throw my character off the fucking screen one more time, I’m ratting you out to your—”

“Shut up!”

“I-It was just a joke! Chill!"

Kaito raised an eyebrow and looked up from the cup of water in his hands.

Kokichi would usually accompany an insult with a “Shut up!”, usually along the lines of “slut” or “moron” or similar variants. Why would he not choose to use an insult this time?

Before he could think about it too much, Miu walked into the kitchen and snatched a bag of chips from the counter.

Kaito scowled. “Hey, I was gonna eat that!”

“Sucks to suck, bitch.”

He groaned as Kokichi’s laughter echoed down the halls, and he got up from his seat to join them in the living room, where his ears surely wouldn’t survive.

(But he’d be damned if it wasn’t satisfying to beat his lab partner at Mario Kart and rub it in her face.)

 

* * *

 

“You ever feel like everyone’s in on something you’re not?”

Miu furrowed her eyebrows and set the wrench down on the concrete floor of her garage, where they were working on their physics lab together.

The project was going much smoother now that they had the basic foundation of their lab down. All they needed to do was collect data and type up a paper on their results, and they would be free to hopefully have other lab partners.

“And why are you asking  _ me _ stupid questions?”

“You’re the only one—Hey, my questions aren’t stupid!”

“Yeah, they are.”

“No, they’re not!”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Fuck you.” Satisfied at what she deemed to be the last word, she finally moved back to the original topic. “But seriously, why’re you asking me this? Are you feeling isolated from all your other virgin friends?"

Kaito stayed silent.

“Holy shit, you really do feel lonely, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to rub it in my face.”

Miu’s face fell. “I’m not. I… I know how it feels.”

Kaito pursed his lips, wishing he had kept his bitter words to himself. “You do?”

“Yeah.” Her gaze drifted down to the blueprints at her feet, and she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Cursing wasn’t cool in elementary school. Parents complained a lot about me, and all I would do was stick up the middle finger. Not a good idea.”

“No shit.”

“Fuck off.” Her voice lowered. “Being a genius wasn’t cool in elementary school, and it wasn’t cool in middle school either. Nothing about me is cool in high school, but at least I’ve found people who think I’m cool for whatever reason.” Her fists clenched by her side, and she turned to face him, staring straight into his eyes in a rare moment of courage. “You gotta keep those people close to you, but you also gotta know when you just have to let them do their thing. I don’t know who the hell you’re talking about, but I do know you must like them a lot, right?”

Kaito nodded, his mouth dry.

“Then trust that they’ll come out to you in their own time.” Miu snickered. “Ha, come out. But seriously, stop being so damn reckless. And fucking communicate for once in your sorry life. I know for a fact if you were keeping an important secret, you would keep it to yourself because ‘the others don’t need to be bothered by me’ or some bullshit like that.”

“How the hell did you know that?”

Her lips curved up into a wry smile. “We have to have spent at least a hundred hours just talking to each other about these damn labs. It’s almost like we’re friends or something.”

“Yeah…” Kaito leaned back in his seat, his mind drifting to the countless all-nighters he and Miu had gone through and all the energy drinks they had consumed together. They had been by each others’ sides through mental breakdowns and stress. They even shared significant memories together, Kaito’s personal favorite being when Miu started cursing out the physics teacher when he questioned their experiment’s reliability, only to be shot down and be responsible for the straight week of detention she and Kaito were assigned the second month of school. “We’re still not friends though.”

“Oh, hell no. Fuck that shit.”

“But still, thanks for that. It was… nice to be on the receiving end of help for once.” And it was true. Just hard to admit. Nevertheless, Kaito hesitated before sticking his hand out. “Acquaintances?”

“Does a brainless loser like you even know what big words mean?”

“Fuck you.”

“You wish.” Still, Miu shook his hand with a smile. “Acquaintances, you stupid bitch. Let’s get back to work if you’re done with your emotional breakdown.”

“It was not an emotional breakdown.”

“It totally was.”

And instead of getting their work done and finishing the project early, they spent the rest of their time together arguing over the wildest topics they could imagine.

But Kaito would be lying if he denied enjoying his time with Miu.

* * *

 

 

“Hey, bro,” Kaito said, slinging an arm around Shuuichi’s shoulder as they walked down the halls of the school together. “Wanna try that new restaurant with me after school?”

Shuuichi offered him a weak smile. “Sorry, but I already agreed to help Kokichi with his language arts work. He told me he’s having trouble with it.”

That had to be the worst lie Kaito’s ever heard from Kokichi, and he had heard years’ worth of lies.

“Hey, don’t look so sad.” Shuuichi elbowed his side. “You can take Maki out there and make fun of the restaurant with her if you guys don’t like it. You two haven’t been on a date in a while with school and everything getting in the way.”

It was tempting to remind him that romantic and platonic relationships weren’t the same thing, but he held his tongue. “Yeah, you’re right. I think I’m gonna take your suggestion.”

“Have fun then.” Shuuichi patted his shoulder with an apologetic smile before slipping into his classroom, leaving Kaito to navigate across the school to his own class.

 

* * *

 

Kaito ducked his head into Kokichi’s room, a football tucked underneath his arm. “Hey, ‘Kichi, you wanna play some football outside with me? It’s been some time before we’ve played anything together.”

Kokichi looked up from his computer and wrinkled his nose. “Kai-chan, it’s ninety degrees outside.”

“... It’s winter.”

“Pff, you almost believed me,” Kokichi snickered. “I saw that look on your face.”

Kaito opened his mouth to refute, only to realize he had actually doubted the seasons for a hot second. “Oh, shut up, that doesn’t matter. Do you wanna play outside or not?”

“Nope, sorry. I already promised Shumai I would type up our lab report.”

“You literally have your history textbook out.”

“What, this? This isn’t my history textbook.” Kokichi shut the book and flung it aside, cringing at the loud bang and the dent formed in the wall.

Kaito blinked before picking up Kokichi’s whiteboard off the ground and tossing it to him.

Kokichi caught the whiteboard and set it in front of the dent. It should have been obvious that it was covering something, but inside the disaster that was Kokichi’s room, it fit right into its surroundings. “Thanks.”

“Mom’s actually gonna kill you for that.”

“She can’t kill me if I’m already dead on the inside.”

“Stop being edgy and play sports with me.”

“I actually did promise Shumai I would finish our lab report by tomorrow, so I can’t.” Kokichi gave him a smile tinged with genuine regret. “Sorry about that, Kai-chan.”

Kaito’s gaze drifted to the many tabs of YouTube open on Kokichi’s computer, to the phone buzzing with texts, and to the doodles on the lab report. “And you haven’t started yet?”

“Tch, of course, I have! I just need to, you know, write the first word.”

“And you agreed to this solely because you’re gay for him?”

Kokichi’s face blossomed a bright red, and he threw one of the many pens on his desk vaguely in Kaito’s direction. “Shut up! Get out of my room!”

Kaito dodged the pen and closed the door, his raucous laughter filling the halls of silence.

It was only when he sat on his bed alone with a football in his hands that he realized he was still alone.

 

* * *

It was midnight on a Friday when all the clues suddenly hit Kaito like the freezing wind outside.

His grip on the corner store bag tightened as he rushed back home.

* * *

 

 

A subdued rage boiled in Kaito’s gut as he slammed the door to Kokichi’s room open, only to see both Kokichi and Shuuichi sitting on the bed, the pages of their lab going ignored around them.

Kokichi blinked. “Oh, hey, you’re back early. Did you see the cookies I bought on the counter?”

Shuuichi sighed and shook his head. “Which you more than likely stole.”

“Just because I’m a liar doesn’t mean I’m a thief. On a completely unrelated note, the prices of cookies in the bakeries here are outrageous.”

Kaito’s gaze darted between the two, and now he could finally see the longing looks, lingering touches, and the genuine love in their eyes. In retrospect, he couldn’t believe he stayed in the dark for this long, but that didn’t matter in this moment. “So you two were dating and you never bothered to tell me?”

The conversation stopped. They froze, and their faces paled before they turned back to meet Kaito’s blazing eyes.

After a long moment of silence, Kokichi finally spoke up, his voice flat and monotone. “We aren’t dating.”

Had Kaito not known Kokichi for all of his life, he would have missed the betraying flicker of panic in his eyes. “You’re lying to me.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Unlike their previous exchanges along the same lines, there was no humor or friendliness in their tones. No smiles were on either of their faces, and the eyes that met were more intense than they had ever been. The air was tense and heavy with silence.

Shuuichi bit his lip and looked down, intertwining his fingers with Kokichi’s. “I think… I think we should be honest just this once. Please?”

Kokichi stared at him pleadingly before sighing. “Fine. We’ve been dating for a few days.”

“A month.”

“... A month.”

“And neither of you ever thought to tell me?” Kaito asked.

Silence.

“I knew it. None of you ever trust me with anything.”

Shuuichi was quick to jump in, his brow furrowed as he reached a hand out. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s just…”

“We were going to tell you eventually,” Kokichi murmured, “We were even talking about how and when we were gonna tell you before you barged into my room.”

“Why would you need to discuss how to tell me? I’m your twin!” Kaito yelled. He raised a hand over his heart. “We’ve lived with each other all our lives, and you can’t even tell me who you’re dating? You told me about your crush, but you don’t tell me how it actually turns out. Makes perfect sense.” He whirled to Shuuichi. “And am I not your best friend? I thought you were my sidekick, my bro. I thought bros could trust each other with everything.”

Kokichi frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but Shuuichi tightened his grip on his hand and shook his head.

“You guys are the worst brothers ever. I’m fucking out.” Kaito took the opportunity to leave the room, shutting the door behind him and pretending the sniffles of his brother who hadn’t genuinely cried in years didn’t break his heart.

 

* * *

 

Kaito woke up with an ache pounding at his head and a phone buzzing with messages.  _ It’s three in the morning, how are these people not asleep? _

Then the rash actions he had taken set in, and he remembered he had to face the consequences of said actions. He picked up his phone and cringed at the messages from too many different people.

**KA:** What happened???

**MH:** Call me.

**MI:** u fucker. did u srsly fuck up when i literally told u what to do???

**SS:** I’m sorry.

**Mom:** do you want me to pick anything up from the grocery store?

The scale of danger wasn’t clear from the five people messaging him (He noted Kokichi’s absence with a bitter taste in his mouth). While his mother had nothing to do with the matter at hand, she would undoubtedly be a bit put off by the fact he was replying to her at three in the morning, two hours after the text had arrived. Shuuichi’s text was most likely at the bottom of the hierarchy of danger, as horrible as it made him feel. Everyone else, on the other hand, was equal in terms of danger level, and he didn’t want to respond to any of them.

After replying to his mother and skipping over Shuuichi’s text, he took a deep breath and responded to the person who was most likely still up at this time.

**KM:** i know i know  
**MI:** what, am i not reliable enough or something?  
**MI:** actually dont answer that  
**MI:** doesnt change the fact u hurt my best friend though. and people call  _ me _ dumb  
**KM:** im not completely responsible for this, you know  
**MI:** oh trust me i fucking know. brat had it coming with that web of lies he was pulling. i already roasted him. doesnt mean he deserved all of that though  
**KM:** do you even know what i said?  
**MI:** no. he wont tell me

Well, that was never a good sign. He wrapped up his conversation with Miu with a promise to fix everything before replying to a different person.

**KM:** trust me u dont wanna know  
**KA:** You guys can’t just leave me out of this! I’m your friend :(  
**KM:** u think friends cant leave each other out on whats happening? funny.  
**KA:** Wait a second…

Kaito closed out of chat before he could hear Kaede’s conclusion. He moved onto the next level in the hierarchy of danger, his thumb hovering over the call button. No amount of deep breathing and rational thinking could calm his heart as he pressed the call button.

It took a few seconds for Maki to pick up. “Meet me at the park near the fountain. Be there in fifteen minutes. I’ll kill you if you’re late.”

Kaito blinked, his fatigue from waking up still not completely gone. “Wait, right now? Do you know what time it is?”

“It’s a hundred o’clock—yes, I know what time it is. I don’t care. We have to talk about this now.” And with that last cryptic message, the other line went dead.

Kaito stared at the too-bright screen of his phone before shutting it off and going to get dressed.

 

* * *

 

The park was different at three AM than it was at any other time. The lack of life made the area feel much bigger and wider, as if one wrong move could get him swallowed into the darkness. The light emitted by the street lamps was reminiscent of lights in horror games, that being there wasn’t enough of it and they were too scattered to provide any substantial light source.

Maki stood under a street lamp, her expression blank. She frowned upon seeing Kaito approach her. “Could you have taken any longer? You’re a minute late.”

“Yeah, well, I normally don’t meet people in the middle of the night at shady parks,” Kaito mumbled. “What do you want?”

Maki stepped forward and lightly slapped the side of Kaito’s head.

While the attack didn’t sting and didn’t hurt nearly as much as Maki could have made it, it still took him by surprise. Kaito held a hand to the side of his head. “Hey! What was that for?”

“For hurting my brother. I don’t know how you didn’t expect that, but I’ll excuse it. Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going on a walk.”

“A walk?”

“We’re at a park, what else are you gonna do?”

“... I guess you have a point.”

And with that, they walked through the park together in silence, occasionally pointing out a squirrel or Maki trying (and failing) to convince Kaito that ghosts didn’t haunt parks.

Finally, as they approached the tallest tree in the park, Maki whirled around to him. “Do you have an issue with Shuuichi and Kokichi’s relationship?”

The question made Kaito pause to think, something he found he doesn’t do nearly as often as he should. “... No. But isn’t a bit weird for your brother and best friend to date? I don’t think I could pick a side if they ever got into a fight. Besides, it was just unexpected. Who knew they could be together like that?”

Maki’s blank expression settled into a familiar annoyance. “I knew about Shuuichi’s crush on Kokichi as soon as he announced who he got as a lab partner at lunch. It was the most obvious thing ever.”

“What? Then why didn’t you—”

“Tell you? Because I value my privacy, and so does Shuuichi. We may be siblings, but that doesn’t give us a free pass to just intrude in each others’ lives. You know how my family works.” Her hands moved to twist one of her pigtails.

That was true. With Shuuichi and Maki both being relatively private people, it was difficult for them to ask questions about each others’ lives without seeming intrusive. That was just their family dynamic.

“Then why didn’t you say anything to Kokichi? Don’t you hate him?” Kaito asked.

“Yes, I do. But do you know why I didn’t jeopardize Shuuichi’s reputation?” She locked eyes with him. “I love my brother more than I hate my enemy. It doesn’t matter how stupid I think both of them are. I just have to let it happen and be there to pick up the remains when things go wrong.”

“But that’s different.”

“I know, but the same fundamental principles are there. Do you love your brother more than you care about how ‘weird’ you think his relationship is?” She sat down against the trunk of the tree and waited for him to fall beside her to continue. “That’s not a rhetorical question.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, of course, I do. Is that even a question?”

“Then show him that. The same applies to your friendship with Shuuichi, too. It’s just a question of love versus hate. That’s how you would frame it, at least.”

He couldn’t help but allow a chuckle to escape his lips. “You know me too well.”

A fond smile made its way to Maki’s face as she elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t blame yourself too much. A bit of miscommunication is bound to happen in your lifetime. Might as well make it with your brother and best friend than your boss or landlord.”

“I still hurt them,” Kaito said, a pang attacking his heart. “That’s not excusable.”

“Other people’s feelings aren’t for you to decide. Talk to them.”

“Do they even want to talk to me?”

Maki rolled her eyes. “Just talk to them. You can’t know for sure unless you get over yourself and talk.”

Kaito took a deep breath. “You’re right, you’re right. Is that all you wanted to say?”

“Other than all of you are idiots? Yeah, pretty much.”

“Hey!”

The tension between them was gone with the following flood of laughter, and they spent the rest of the night walking under the stars.

 

* * *

 

The physics lab was finally completed a few minutes before the due date. After a night of panicking and partying with Miu after turning in the written portion of their lab online (though both of them were sure they had lost the challenge Miu had accepted near the beginning of the project, despite Miu’s insistence otherwise), Kaito finally made the time to convince the two people dearest to him to sit across from him in the living room.

The air was tense, though most of the wounds had healed over the week they left for each other to cool off. Shuuichi fiddled with the hem of his shirt and averted his eyes while Kokichi stared down at his fingernails.

Kaito bit his lip. He wished he could take his words back, but they had already been thrown out into the world. All he could do was damage control.

“Uh… sorry, guys.”

They raised their gazes to meet his eyes.

It was tough to force the words out when he had been taught all his life to talk with fists, but he couldn’t stop now. “I guess I just felt… really left out, and I thought you guys didn’t trust me. That hurt, but it’s not an excuse to yell at you. Especially that line about you guys being bad brothers. That wasn’t cool.”

Silence.

Shuuichi offered him a smile. “I’m sorry, too. We should’ve just told you. We were just afraid of your reaction, I guess.”

“Apology accepted, bro. You’re my best friend.”

They stared at Kokichi, who had yet to speak.

Kokichi moved his gaze to the refrigerator. “I lied to Dad about needing Astro cake for a science fair project. I took some so it wouldn’t be suspicious, but you can have the rest. It’s in the fridge.”

Forgiveness and apology in one action. It was something only Kokichi could pull off.

“Now, I need to talk to both of you about something, starting with Shuuichi,” Kaito said. He turned to the person in question and fixed a stern stare on him.

Shuuichi gulped. “U-Uh… Did I do something wrong?”

“Not yet. If you hurt my little brother—”

“You’re only a few minutes older than me,” Kokichi sighed.

“ _ —little brother, _ I’ll kick your ass. Same goes for you, ‘Kichi. If you hurt my best friend, I’m kicking your ass all the way to Tuesday.”

“... Today is Tuesday.”

Kaito whipped his head around to the calendar hanging in their kitchen as Kokichi giggled, only to realize it was Thursday. “Oh, you tricky son of a bitch. Did you just lie about the day of the week?”

“You’re the one that fell for it.”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Uh huh!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“You two are actual children,” Shuuichi chuckled, his smile fond.

Kokichi gasped and clutched his chest. “My own boyfriend is betraying me? That’s so mean! Tell him, Kai-chan.”

“What? Come up with your own defense,” Kaito said.

“This is so rude. My own twin’s turned against me, too.” He burst into a round of fake tears. “You’re all meanies!”

“Quiet down before Mom hears!”

“You should’ve thought of that  _ before _ deciding to betray me.”

Even if talking to Kokichi was as infuriating as ever, the tension in the atmosphere had been eased, and Kaito found he missed their smiles and laughter. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough for now.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t wanna go to schoooool,” Kokichi whined, dragging his feet along the pavement. He plopped down on the sidewalk.

Kaito lifted him up by the collar. “Get up, you lazy ass, you’re already here anyway. Besides, don’t you wanna see your friends?”

“What friends? I don’t have any—Hi, Shumai!” Kokichi tore away from Kaito’s side to tackle Shuuichi to the ground. After helping him up and being scolded by Maki, their fingers laced together, and they made their way back to Kaito.

“What were you saying about having no friends?” Kaito teased.

Kokichi stuck his tongue out in response, only to have Kaito ruffle his hair. “Yuck! Get your dirty hands away from my hair! Do you know how long it took to get it like this?”

“All you do is brush your hair.”

“And that took a whole thirty seconds. I can’t believe you would waste my time like this. Right, Shuuichi?”

Shuuichi hummed as he smoothed out Kokichi’s hair. “I’m not part of this.” He shot a glance at Maki and smiled upon receiving an approving nod, laughing at Kokichi’s resulting whines.

Kokichi stuck out his bottom lip at the dismissal but let it go. “What did you make us for lunch, Kai-chan? It’s probably poisoned with your bad cooking.”

“For your information,” Kaito grumbled, “I made us Chinese dumplings. They’re leftovers from yesterday, remember?”

“I thought you had a problem with them. Too hard to make or something like that.”

“If it was too hard to make, I wouldn’t be making them.”

“Good. Then maybe I would have more of my taste buds left.” Kokichi ducked and released Shuuichi’s hand to dodge the resulting backpack thrown at him. He grabbed the strap of the bag and ran inside the school, his signature laughter following him.

“Hey! That’s my backpack, you little shit!” Kaito shouted, running after him.

Shuuichi chuckled as he followed them into the school with Maki by his side.

But even if dealing with Kokichi’s pranks was a pain and he didn’t particularly like making dumplings, Kaito couldn’t help but think he was exactly where he wanted to be with who he wanted to be with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Shumai = Chinese dumplings


End file.
